A Message from the CEO - December 2023

I hope everyone is having an awesome holiday season.  I’ve been telling myself to breathe and slow down.  (“Slow down, Steve!”)  I look at the holiday season like when I host Thanksgiving.  6 hours of cooking, 10 minutes of eating, and 5 hours of cleaning.  (I’ve been accused of “bahhumbuggin” in the past and I don’t like that label, so I’m trying hard to … breathe and slow down.)  I need to focus more on the 10 minutes or reclassify the prep and cleanup as part of the holiday fun.

I remember my dad looking for a new car.  He seriously took years to find the right vehicle.  I’d say, “Just choose already!”  He’d yell back, “Most of my fun is in the looking!”  I think Dad had the right perspective.  My sister takes after him – she’ll tell me in July (I’m not kidding) “I need ideas for Christmas” – I tell her that Christmas is in 7 months and she tells me she likes to get an early start. 

Perhaps my anxiety stems from thinking about shopping days before the event.  If I plan earlier, then I can enjoy the actual holiday season.  Look at lights, sing the songs, drink the nog. 

Getting swept up in the fanfare is sometimes inevitable, though.  This year someone asked if I would volunteer my house to be on the first annual Clarion holiday house tour.  As 2023 is my year of saying yes (to most everything … it was a goal), I said yes.  Then I panicked because my idea of holiday decorations is I drag my already decorated tree up from the basement and plug it in and call it a day.  My sister – the one who plans – came to my rescue and helped me to spiff up my whole house.  Then the new Ukulele Society (there are 3 of us) performed in my basement bar and a good time was had by all.